Cup venues still await the 'test'
Calcutta: The International Cricket Council (ICC)'s high-powered inspection team announced that Eden Gardens was on track to host the remaining three World Cup matches, but there has been no such assurance on the three Sri Lankan venues and the Wankhede, which will host the final. While it was understood that February 7 was the deadline set by the ICC for all the centres where work is still incomplete, a spokesman for the world body told on Wednesday that the inspection for the Lankan venues and the Wankhede 'would take place in the next few days'.
The Wankhede continues to keep its doors closed to the outside world and so it is a matter of intense speculation on its state of affairs. The Wankhede hasn't even hosted a first-class match so far, which is supposed to be mandatory. While the three Sri Lankan stadiums got the benefit of doubt, the Eden got the stick when the high-profile India-England match was shifted to Bangalore late last month.
Sri Lanka will stage 12 matches of the showpiece event, in Hambantota, Pallekele and the Premadasa in Colombo. The Premadasa and Hambantota were to host Sri Lanka's one-dayers versus the West Indies, but the matches were later moved to the SSC in Colombo. On Wednesday, the ICC announced that the warm-up matches in Pallekele would be relocated due to heavy rain. Tournament director Ratnakar Shetty said: 'It's a common sense decision following an extremely high volume of rainfall.'
The decision was taken by the local and ICC officials following a recommendation by ICC pitch consultant Andy Atkinson, who inspected the venue on Wednesday. This means the matches between Sri Lanka and the Netherlands on Saturday and Kenya and the Netherlands on February 15 will be moved elsewhere. This does not, however, affect the three tournament fixtures scheduled to take place at that venue in March.
Shetty said: 'The groundstaff in Pallekele have had to contend with an extremely high volume of rainfall over a number of weeks, far in excess of what is normal during this time of the year. This has proved to be a significant handicap in their efforts to produce pitches for the forthcoming warm-up matches.'
The decision to switch the warm-up matches away from Pallekele is common sense and is one that is fully supported by all stakeholders as it will allow the groundstaff the time they need, following those recent heavy rains, to produce excellent pitches for the tournament matches that will take place there. At the same time, the switch will also ensure that the teams involved in the warm-up matches get a high level of quality preparation ahead of tournament matches.
News Posted: 10 February, 2011
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